scholarly journals Silviculture can facilitate repeat prescribed burn programs with long-term strategies

2022 ◽  
pp. 104-111
Author(s):  
Robert A. York ◽  
Jacob Levine ◽  
Daniel Foster ◽  
Scott Stephens ◽  
Brandon Collins
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Relative Proportion ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
Wildfire Hazard ◽  
Initial Entry

A significant expansion of prescribed fire activity will be necessary to mitigate growing wildfire hazard in California forests. Forest managers can facilitate this expansion by promoting forest structures that allow for more effective implementation of prescribed fire, for both initial-entry and repeat burns. We analyzed changes in surface fuel during a series of three burns in replicated mixed-conifer stands following a period of over 100 years of fire suppression and exclusion. Total fuel load, proportion of pine present, canopy cover and basal area of live trees were relevant forest-structure components that influenced plot-scale fuel consumption. The study highlighted the importance of pre-fire fuel load and the relative proportion of pine in the overstory, which both led to greater amounts of fuel consumption. The initial-entry burn dramatically reduced all fuel categories (fine fuel, coarse wood and duff). Following each burn, fuel recovered until the next burn reduced loads enough to maintain low fuel levels. We apply the results to provide an example of how to determine the timing of prescribed fires.

Forest stand and site characteristics influence fuel consumption in repeat prescribed burns

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Jacob I. Levine ◽  
Brandon M. Collins ◽  
Robert A. York ◽  
Daniel E. Foster ◽  
Danny L. Fry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Structural Diversity ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
Fuel Type ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Prescribed Burns

Prescribed fire is a vital tool for mitigating wildfire hazard and restoring ecosystems in many western North American forest types. However, there can be considerable variability in fuel consumption from prescribed burns, which affects both hazard mitigation and emissions. In the present study, data from replicated, repeat-entry burns following a period of 100+ years of fire exclusion were used to provide a detailed quantification of fuel consumption as it varies by fuel type, size class, stand and prescribed burn number (first, second or third). Using model selection on a series of linear mixed-effects models, it was determined that total fuel load, proportion of overstorey pine, slope, canopy cover, basal area of live trees, burn number and stand influenced fuel consumption at a 0.04-ha scale. Specifically, overstorey pine composition had a positive effect on fuel consumption. Overall fuel consumption across the three burns averaged 45% of pre-burn fuel loads. Overall consumption was highest for the first burn at 65%, decreasing by 15–20% with each successive burn number. Fuel consumption was highly variable by fuel type, stand and tree species composition. This variability may be advantageous for managers seeking to foster structural diversity and resilience in forest stands.

scholarly journals Facilitating Prescribed Fire in Northern California through Indigenous Governance and Interagency Partnerships

Fire ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Tony Marks-Block ◽  
William Tripp
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
The United States ◽  
Northern California ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
California Department ◽  
State Regulations

Prescribed burning by Indigenous people was once ubiquitous throughout California. Settler colonialism brought immense investments in fire suppression by the United States Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (CAL FIRE) to protect timber and structures, effectively limiting prescribed burning in California. Despite this, fire-dependent American Indian communities such as the Karuk and Yurok peoples, stalwartly advocate for expanding prescribed burning as a part of their efforts to revitalize their culture and sovereignty. To examine the political ecology of prescribed burning in Northern California, we coupled participant observation of prescribed burning in Karuk and Yurok territories (2015–2019) with 75 surveys and 18 interviews with Indigenous and non-Indigenous fire managers to identify political structures and material conditions that facilitate and constrain prescribed fire expansion. Managers report that interagency partnerships have provided supplemental funding and personnel to enable burning, and that decentralized prescribed burn associations facilitate prescribed fire. However, land dispossession and centralized state regulations undermine Indigenous and local fire governance. Excessive investment in suppression and the underfunding of prescribed fire produces a scarcity of personnel to implement and plan burns. Where Tribes and local communities have established burning infrastructure, authorities should consider the devolution of decision-making and land repatriation to accelerate prescribed fire expansion.

scholarly journals Estimating Fuel Consumption for the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott L. Goodrick ◽  
Dan Shea ◽  
John Blake
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Continued Use

Abstract Recent changes in air quality regulations present a potential obstacle to continued use of prescribed fire as a land management tool. Lowering of the acceptable daily concentration of particulate matter from 65 to 35 μg/m3 will bring much closer scrutiny of prescribed burning practices from the air quality community. To work within this narrow window, land managers need simple tools to allow them to estimate their potential emissions and examine trade-offs between continued use of prescribed fire and other means of fuels management. A critical part of the emissions estimation process is determining the amount of fuel consumed during the burn. This study combines results from a number of studies along the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina to arrive at a simple means of estimating total fuel consumption on prescribed fires. The result is a simple linear relationship that determines the total fuel consumed as a function of the product of the preburn fuel load and the burning index of the National Fire Danger Rating System.

scholarly journals Impacts of increasing fine fuel loads on acorn germination and early growth of oak seedlings

Fire Ecology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel E. Nation ◽  
Heather D. Alexander ◽  
Geoff Denny ◽  
Jennifer K. McDaniel ◽  
Alison K. Paulson
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Germination Rate ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Leaf Number ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Quercus Alba ◽  
White Oak ◽  
Fuel Treatment ◽  
Basal Diameter ◽  
Fuel Loads

Abstract Background Prescribed fire is increasingly used to restore and maintain upland oak (Quercus L. spp.) ecosystems in the central and eastern US. However, little is known about how prescribed fire affects recently fallen acorns under different fine fuel loads, which can vary with stand composition and basal area, burn season, and fire frequency. We conducted plot-level (1 m2) burns in an upland oak stand in northern Mississippi, USA, during December 2018, using single (i.e., ambient), double, and triple fine fuel loads, representative of those in nearby unburned and recently fire-treated, closed-canopy stands. Pre burn, we placed 30 acorns each of white oak (Quercus alba L.) and Shumard oak (Quercus shumardii Buckley) ~1 cm below the litter surface in five plots of each fuel treatment. Immediately post burn, we planted unburned and burned acorns in a greenhouse. After ~50% of each species’ unburned acorns germinated, we measured percent germination and height, basal diameter, and leaf number of germinating seedlings weekly for 11 weeks. Then, we harvested seedlings to determine above- and belowground biomass. Results The single fuel treatment reduced acorn germination rates of both species to ~40% compared to ~88% in unburned acorns. When burned in double and triple fuel loads, acorns of both species had a <5% germination rate. There was no difference in basal diameter, leaf number, or biomass of seedlings from burned versus unburned acorns for either species. However, seedlings originating from burned acorns of both species were ~11% shorter than those from unburned acorns. Thus, both species responded similarly to fuel load treatments. Conclusions Acorns of both species exhibited greater survival with lower fine fuel loads, and consequently lower percent fuel consumption. Acorns germinating post fire generally produced seedlings with growth patterns similar to seedlings originating from unburned acorns. These findings indicate that regular, repeated prescribed fires or canopy reductions that limit fine fuel accumulation and create heterogeneous fuel beds are likely to increase acorn germination rates relative to unburned sites or those with recently introduced fire.

scholarly journals Adjudicating Perspectives on Forest Structure: How Do Airborne, Terrestrial, and Mobile Lidar-Derived Estimates Compare?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2297
Author(s):  
Jonathon J. Donager ◽  
Andrew J. Sánchez Meador ◽  
Ryan C. Blackburn
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Absolute Error ◽  
Forest Monitoring ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Structural Configurations ◽  
Individual Trees

Applications of lidar in ecosystem conservation and management continue to expand as technology has rapidly evolved. An accounting of relative accuracy and errors among lidar platforms within a range of forest types and structural configurations was needed. Within a ponderosa pine forest in northern Arizona, we compare vegetation attributes at the tree-, plot-, and stand-scales derived from three lidar platforms: fixed-wing airborne (ALS), fixed-location terrestrial (TLS), and hand-held mobile laser scanning (MLS). We present a methodology to segment individual trees from TLS and MLS datasets, incorporating eigen-value and density metrics to locate trees, then assigning point returns to trees using a graph-theory shortest-path approach. Overall, we found MLS consistently provided more accurate structural metrics at the tree- (e.g., mean absolute error for DBH in cm was 4.8, 5.0, and 9.1 for MLS, TLS and ALS, respectively) and plot-scale (e.g., R2 for field observed and lidar-derived basal area, m2 ha−1, was 0.986, 0.974, and 0.851 for MLS, TLS, and ALS, respectively) as compared to ALS and TLS. While TLS data produced estimates similar to MLS, attributes derived from TLS often underpredicted structural values due to occlusion. Additionally, ALS data provided accurate estimates of tree height for larger trees, yet consistently missed and underpredicted small trees (≤35 cm). MLS produced accurate estimates of canopy cover and landscape metrics up to 50 m from plot center. TLS tended to underpredict both canopy cover and patch metrics with constant bias due to occlusion. Taking full advantage of minimal occlusion effects, MLS data consistently provided the best individual tree and plot-based metrics, with ALS providing the best estimates for volume, biomass, and canopy cover. Overall, we found MLS data logistically simple, quickly acquirable, and accurate for small area inventories, assessments, and monitoring activities. We suggest further work exploring the active use of MLS for forest monitoring and inventory.

Prescribed Burning for Stand Conversion in Budworm-killed Balsam Fir: An Ontario Case History

1986 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. McRae
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Choristoneura Fumiferana ◽  
Abies Balsamea ◽  
Spruce Budworm ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Balsam Fir ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
Stand Conversion

Recent spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana [Clem.]) infestations have resulted in widespread areas of balsam fir (Abies balsamea [L.] Mill.) mortality in Ontario, and there is growing interest in reestablishing these areas quickly as productive forests. One technique being used is prescribed fire after a salvage and bulldozer tramping operation. A 445-ha prescribed burn was carried out under moderate fire danger conditions in northern Ontario. The site, which was covered by balsam fir fuel that had been killed by spruce budworm, was tramped to improve fire spread. Weather, fuel consumption, and fire effects are reported. The burn effectively reduced heavy surface fuel loadings and consequently planting on the site was easier. Key words: Prescribed burning, fire, spruce budworm. Choristoneura fumiferana, balsam fir, Abies balsamea, fuel consumption, site preparation, tramping, stand conversion.

Characterisation of the fuel and fire environment in southern Ontario’s tallgrass prairie

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 1118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Kidnie ◽  
B. Mike Wotton
Keyword(s):  
Moisture Content ◽  
Tallgrass Prairie ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Prairie Restoration ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
Spread Rate ◽  
Prescribed Burns ◽  
Tallgrass Prairie Restoration

Prescribed burning can be an integral part of tallgrass prairie restoration and management. Understanding fire behaviour in this fuel is critical to conducting safe and effective prescribed burns. Our goal was to quantify important physical characteristics of southern Ontario’s tallgrass fuel complex prior to and during prescribed burns and synthesise our findings into useful applications for the prescribed fire community. We found that the average fuel load in tallgrass communities was 0.70 kg m–2. Fuel loads varied from 0.38 to 0.96 kg m–2. Average heat of combustion did not vary by species and was 17 334 kJ kg–1. A moisture content model was developed for fully cured, matted field grass, which was found to successfully predict moisture content of the surface layers of cured tallgrass in spring. We observed 25 head fires in spring-season prescribed burns with spread rates ranging from 4 to 55 m min–1. Flame front residence time averaged 27 s, varying significantly with fuel load but not fire spread rate. A grassland spread rate model from Australia showed the closest agreement with observed spread rates. These results provide prescribed-burn practitioners in Ontario better information to plan and deliver successful burns.

The Effect of Season of Picloram and Chlorsulfuron Application on Dalmatian Toadflax (Linaria genistifolia) on Prescribed Burns

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Jacobs ◽  
Roger L. Sheley
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
Prescribed Burns ◽  
Randomized Complete Block Design ◽  
Untreated Check ◽  
Dalmatian Toadflax ◽  
Density And Biomass ◽  
Cover Density

Herbicides are an important tool for managing weeds where prescribed fire is used for rangeland improvement. Understanding how the season of herbicide application relates to prescribed burning is important. Our objective was to determine the effect of picloram and chlorsulfuron on Dalmatian toadflax cover, density, and biomass, where these herbicides were applied in the fall before burning or in the spring before or after burning. Six herbicide treatments and an untreated check were applied in a randomized complete block design with four replications to a prescribed burn at two sites infested with Dalmatian toadflax in Montana, United States. Herbicides were applied in the fall preburn, spring preburn, and spring postburn. Site 1 was treated in 1999 and 2000, and site 2 was treated in 2000 and 2001. Cover, biomass, and density of Dalmatian toadflax were sampled in September 2000, 2001, and 2002 at site 1 and September 2001 and 2002 at site 2. At site 1, cover, biomass, and density of Dalmatian toadflax were at least 76% lower compared with the check in both spring-applied picloram treatments, whereas the fall picloram treatment had similar Dalmatian toadflax cover, biomass, and density compared with the check 3 yr after application. By 2002, chlorsulfuron reduced Dalmatian toadflax cover, biomass, and density by at least 79% compared with the check in all timings of application at site 1. At site 2, Dalmatian toadflax cover, biomass, and density were reduced by at least 86% for all picloram and chlorsulfuron treatments in 2002, 2 yr after application. Chlorsulfuron applied in the fall or the spring and picloram applied in the spring effectively suppressed Dalmatian toadflax cover, biomass, and density for up to 3 yr.

scholarly journals Tree Mortality Following Mixed-Severity Prescribed Fire Dramatically Alters the Structure of a Developing Pinus taeda Forest on the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain

Fire ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Ray ◽  
Deborah Landau
Keyword(s):  
Loblolly Pine ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Pine Forest ◽  
Atlantic Coastal Plain ◽  
Relative Reduction ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Horizontal Structure

This case study documents the aftermath of a mixed-severity prescribed fire conducted during the growing season in a young loblolly pine forest. The specific management objective involved killing a substantial proportion of the overstory trees and creating an open-canopy habitat. The burn generated canopy openings across 26% of the 25-ha burn block, substantially altering the horizontal structure. Mortality of pines was high and stems throughout the size distribution were impacted; stem density was reduced by 60% and basal area and aboveground biomass (AGB) by ~30% at the end of the first growing season. A nonlinear regression model fit to plot data portrays a positive relationship between high stocking (i.e., relative density > 0.60) and postburn mortality. Survival of individual trees was reliably modeled with logistic regression, including variables describing the relative reduction in the size of tree crowns following the burn. Total AGB recovered rapidly, on average exceeding levels at the time of the burn by 23% after six growing seasons. Intentional mixed-severity burning effectively created persistent canopy openings in a young fire-tolerant precommercial-sized pine forest, meeting our objectives of structural alteration for habitat restoration.

scholarly journals African American Exposure to Prescribed Fire Smoke in Georgia, USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (17) ◽  
pp. 3079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra Johnson Gaither ◽  
Sadia Afrin ◽  
Fernando Garcia-Menendez ◽  
M. Talat Odman ◽  
Ran Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Hispanic Americans ◽  
The State ◽  
Private Landowners ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
Mobile Home ◽  
Fire Smoke

Our project examines the association between percent African American and smoke pollution in the form of prescribed burn-sourced, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the U.S. state of Georgia for 2018. (1) Background: African Americans constitute 32.4% of Georgia’s population, making it the largest racial/ethnic minority group in the state followed by Hispanic Americans at 9.8%. African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and lower wealth groups are more likely than most middle and upper income White Americans to be exposed to environmental pollutants. This is true because racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to live in urban areas where pollution is more concentrated. As a point of departure, we examine PM2.5 concentrations specific to prescribed fire smoke, which typically emanates from fires occurring in rural or peri-urban areas. Two objectives are specified: a) examine the association between percent African American and PM2.5 concentrations at the census tract level for Georgia, and b) identify emitters of PM2.5 concentrations that exceed National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for the 24-h average, i. e., >35 µg/m3. (2) Methods: For the first objective, we estimate a spatial Durbin error model (SDEM) where pollution concentration (PM2.5) estimates for 1683 census tracts are regressed on percent of the human population that is African American or Hispanic; lives in mobile homes; and is employed in agriculture and related occupations. Also included as controls are percent evergreen forest, percent mixed evergreen/deciduous forest, and variables denoting lagged explanatory and error variables, respectively. For the second objective, we merge parcel and prescribed burn permit data to identify landowners who conduct prescribed fires that produce smoke exceeding the NAAQS. (3) Results: Percent African American and mobile home dweller are positively related to PM2.5 concentrations; and government and non-industrial private landowners are the greatest contributors to exceedance levels (4) Conclusions: Reasons for higher PM2.5 concentrations in areas with higher African American and mobile home percent are not clear, although we suspect that neither group is a primary contributor to prescribed burn smoke but rather tend to live proximate to entities, both public and private, that are. Also, non-industrial private landowners who generated prescribed burn smoke exceeding NAAQS are wealthier than others, which suggests that African American and other environmental justice populations are less likely to contribute to exceedance levels in the state.

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